Mysterious? I’ve had an induction range for 3 years. There’s nothing mysterious about it. Of course, I did read the instruction manual. As for having fun in the kitchen, I’ve always had fun in the kitchen: gas, coil, glass top, and induction. The only added “fun” in the kitchen that induction brings is that this is my first range with touchpad controls, and my cat likes to walk on them. So I had to devise a creative barrier. Which I did.
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IIRC I got most of my Tramontina stuff years ago from WalMart. They still carry quite a bit of it, but disturbingly most of the covered stainless clad pans are now supplied with glass lids rather than the stainless lids that came with all of mine.
I do prefer the glass lids for my non-stick stuff for doing things like fried/steamed eggs, but for the most part prefer the stainless lids for the stainless pans.
Oh please tell us.
Okay. The touchpad controls have a lock button, which deactivates/locks them, but the delinquent kitty evidently figured out he could stand on that “lock controls”button for more than 3 seconds and unlock everything, including the oven controls. (and yes he did turn on the oven…) So, I needed to block access to all the buttons. Pots placed on the cooktop with long handles strategically arranged over the buttons seemed to work, but I took it a step further. I used non-induction capable pots and pans (my copper!) on the burners, so if the sneaky feline got a paw under the handles and turned on a burner, after 30 seconds it would just shut off because an induction capable pan wouldn’t be detected. So far so good. Not a big deal to move the pots aside when I need to use the range. I also thought about putting my cutting boards on the cooktop with their edges hanging over the touchpads, but there’s a non-induction little warming burner towards the back and that wouldn’t play well with wood if it got accidentally paw-triggered. So non-induction pans with long handles it is. Flipping the circuit breaker to off isn’t a feasible solution; I don’t want to have to remember to do it, and setting the clock every day or several times a day isn’t desirable either.
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Hi Meekah,
I spent a year studying induction before I tried anything–then have used and played with 5 or 6 units. If I could afford it, the next one I’d try is the Control Freak:
Ray
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Loved it. Thanks for the reply.
That one’s aptly named for its target audience. Eventually the technology will work its way down to more accessible products. That’s what technology does. I’m fine with my set up.
Meekah,
I’ve spent my life playing with software systems, Cad/Cam, and applications. Induction has a great personality for me to play with and applications that sometimes can amaze. I doubt that many home cooks will ever get that interested:
Now, if one likes to do catering from time to time . . .
Ray
I’ll pass, and yes, I have a technology background.
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You licensed for catering in SOCAL?
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I certainly would not be interested in a 120V hob for $1800. Moreover, while Breville is an Australian brand, given that most of their stuff is built in China I consider the bulk of their brand offerings to be severely overpriced.
I’d spend that same coin on a 36" Electrolux 240V/40+A induction cooktop and be a LOT happier.
Hi SP,
My goal all along has been to have one given to me to play with–but, if it gets below about $800–and that could happen on EBAY–I could be tempted.
Right now, though, my first interest is in cultural fusion, and I think I can explore that best through kitchen knives. I have a Japanese collaborator that works with me on a weekly basis, and has worked with kitchen knives professionally in Japan, and another internet friend who loves this topic who I correspond with regularly.
We might be able to turn my little home kitchen into a comparison testbed.
Ray
The appeal of the Control Freak is, at the risk of further enabling Ray, its sensor, switching and PID control. If any full-size, full-power appliance offered this, the CF would be selling few units. But there would be recalls and lawsuits.
The Polyscience side of Breville is not as crappy as the eponymous side.
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Back to OP topic.
As we’ve both surmised, nothing that has been presented on this thread so far has broken through your “doldrums”–though I do think that both Covid 19, as suggested, and recent world events, may be playing a role.
Ray
I think the endless proliferation of new lines by the same makers may have had a numbing effect on many consumers. You walk into a cookware store, especially WS with its wall of home jewelry, and are immediately hit with an array that they have, in my opinion, failed to differentiate for the unsophisticated consumer, save by price. That consumer is afraid to ask how 1099 performs vis a vis C3PO or LBJ. It is doubtful a typical WS or SLT salesperson can talk knowledgeably and convincingly (and accurately) about heat dispersion, responsiveness, fitness of the surface for developing Maiilard reactions and fond, heat retention, etc. So it seems to come down to “Which pretty things I can afford will best complement my kitchen decor?” The “What can I afford?” decision will likely be driven by set prices rather than individual piece prices. If that has become a dominant consumer calculus, what incentive is there to innovate unless the innovation is so paradigm changing that every cook will feel compelled to go there?
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Hi Vecchiouomo,
I went to Williams Sonoma in the earliest stages of developing my home kitchen for the fantasy they displayed–not so much to buy product. It works really well for them marketing a one stop destination for wedding gifts-and I’ve purchased more than one expensive slotted spoon for a bride there myself:
The only recent innovative example involving cookware that I know something about is Hestan nanobond–which has clearly been developed and marketed according to a long term plan. I doubt that they expected much of a return from sales in less than ten years.
The only analogous example I can think of in the United States was the development and marketing of All Clad when their cladding process was pioneered. What allowed them development time was a federal contract to make cladded coins that was then transferred to cookware. I think it took about 10 years for them to break through.
The 11" nanobond pan that I won on EBAY for not much more than $100 is no longer unknown–with marketing ramping up–and I enjoy using it.
Ray
Right, as usual. It would be nice to have a vendor that stocks (or can quickly order) a much wider array of cookware brands and lines, and curate them. Realistically, this would have to be done online. But Amazon and most vendors do horrible jobs of helping consumers compare and select based on budget and need.
At the risk of being shot down again like one of the Red Baron’s kills, I suggest anew a cookware lending library…
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I would love it if there were an empirically based grid, scoring each item for critical attributes such as heat dispersion, responsiveness, heat retention, durability, ease of cleaning, etc. That way you could zero in on the cookware that best met your requirements. I have yet to encounter the cookware that gets top scores on all criteria. If you ignore cost, stainless lined 3mm copper comes the closest, yet I choose tin or thick carbon steel. Huh!?
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Even if the technological advance is sufficiently paradigm shifting, cookware companies may choose not to invest. My friend in the biz showed me that materials science has advanced well beyond the clad tools we use on the stove, but the tech is slow to be adopted by cookware manufacturers (stalled completely for now) because the higher ups decided not to invest in it. Eventually I believe they will, but it could be delayed by many years.
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